The Film Experience

Murtada is back with his weekly Oscars feature for a new season, following Oscar contenders and examining how their many interviews and appearances impact their chances.

Gerwig at the Gotham Awards

Are you ready for another season of Oscar campaign shenanigans? Frankly I wasn’t. In the year in which Hollywood revealed its ugly hidden true self of rampant sexual harassment, maybe they shouldn’t spend so much time patting themselves on the back. Cancel the Oscars, I cried to one in particular.

But then Greta Gerwig took me out of my dark despair...

There is a way to celebrate the art form we love, have fun with awards while still acknowledging the awful reality of the industry that makes this art. In an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, Gerwig acknowledged the issue and thoughtfully discussed how hard it is to talk about, turned the tables gently and kindly on her interviewer and steered the conversation back to her fantastic film, Lady Bird:

I understand that this is something that we need to talk about, but I also have directed my first film that I wrote on my own, and I want to talk about that.

The interview is a great listen and comes in a very good week for Lady Bird, having won prizes at the National Board of Review and from the New York Film Critics. In fact some are touting its leading lady Saoirse Ronan as the one to beat in best actress. She got a first chance at an acceptance speech when she won at The Gothams. She was short and sweet dedicating the award to her mother and Gerwig. Astute strategy since her movie is about a mother / daughter relationship. Good first try, just maybe make the linkages clear next time.

Jake Gyllenhaal is having a very busy season. In addition to promoting his performance, he is also promoting his friend Carey Mulligan's work. He was seen hosting a screening of Mudbound in New York this week. Stronger is a film he clearly believes in, but will he be rewarded with the second nomination that has long eluded him? To this Oscar watcher’s eye there is an opening after the presumed nominees Timothee Chalamet, Gary Oldman and Tom Hanks. However there are 3 men vying for 2 spots. Gyllenhaal, James Franco (The Disaster Artist) and Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out).

Franco has the comeback narrative, Kaluuya the best picture heat. What Gyllenhaal has is the real life person he’s playing appearing alongside him almost everywhere. So it’s smart for him to link his performance to the man he plays, Jeff Bauman. He told Variety this week:

I was struggling with doubt the whole time. There was no way I could live up to his story or the person that he is. Finally I realized Jeff himself was filled with doubt. He felt he wasn’t up to [the expectations of others and of himself]. And I think that realization was a bit of a fuel for the performance.

Nathaniel thinks he makes the shortlist. So does Chalamet, who’s as smitten with the cast of Mudbound as Gyllenhaal is. Chalamet started his Gotham award speech with a tribute to his fellow nominee Mary J Blige.

It's a charming speech and coupled with his strong and lauded performance, we might have found our challenger for the Best Actor trophy. What do you think about best actor? And does Lady Bird make it all the way?